IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v14y2025i6p1238-d1674697.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effects of Urbanization-Induced Land Use Changes on Ecosystem Services: A Case Study of the Anhui Province, China

Author

Listed:
  • Xinmiao Liu

    (Research Institute of Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China)

  • Xudong Zhang

    (Research Institute of Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China)

  • Qi Shu

    (Research Institute of Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China)

  • Zengwang Yao

    (College of Forestry, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian 271018, China)

  • Hailong Wu

    (Research Institute of Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China)

  • Shenghua Gao

    (Research Institute of Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China)

Abstract

Urbanization has profoundly reshaped ecosystem services (ESs), yet how diverse urbanization drivers interact with land use and land cover (LULC) changes to influence ESs remains insufficiently studied. To address these gaps, this study offers a comprehensive assessment of urbanization induced ESs transformations across Anhui Province, China. We selected five key regulating and provisioning services closely linked to LULC dynamics, revealing that southern mountainous areas consistently supported higher ES levels, whereas central and northern urbanizing zones experienced severe ES degradation. By using random forest ensemble learning and Partial Least Square Path Modeling, we identified population density, urban construction proportion, and agricultural intensification as key urbanization drivers shaped LULC changes and indirectly influenced ES distributions. Notably, we also found that urbanization drivers and land use transitions did not act independently but interacted to jointly affect ES dynamics. These findings underscored the critical role of land use changes in mediating the impacts of urbanization on ESs and highlighted the importance of integrating land use management with urban planning to support sustainable regional development.

Suggested Citation

  • Xinmiao Liu & Xudong Zhang & Qi Shu & Zengwang Yao & Hailong Wu & Shenghua Gao, 2025. "Effects of Urbanization-Induced Land Use Changes on Ecosystem Services: A Case Study of the Anhui Province, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-23, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:14:y:2025:i:6:p:1238-:d:1674697
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/6/1238/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/6/1238/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yong Cao & Cheng Wang & Yue Su & Houlang Duan & Xumei Wu & Rui Lu & Qiang Su & Yutong Wu & Zhaojun Chu, 2023. "Study on Spatiotemporal Evolution and Driving Forces of Habitat Quality in the Basin along the Yangtze River in Anhui Province Based on InVEST Model," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-18, May.
    2. Yu, Bing & Xu, Linyu, 2016. "Review of ecological compensation in hydropower development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 729-738.
    3. Boyce, James K. & Zwickl, Klara & Ash, Michael, 2016. "Measuring environmental inequality," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 114-123.
    4. Yu, Binbin, 2021. "Ecological effects of new-type urbanization in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    5. Ouyang, Xiao & Tang, Lisha & Wei, Xiao & Li, Yonghui, 2021. "Spatial interaction between urbanization and ecosystem services in Chinese urban agglomerations," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    6. Bolund, Per & Hunhammar, Sven, 1999. "Ecosystem services in urban areas," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 293-301, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tan, Yanan & Jiang, Guoliang & Merajuddin, Shaheem Sayed & Zhao, Fang, 2025. "Urbanization and tourism economic development," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    2. Yang, Senmiao & He, Xiaohui & Jiang, Qingzhe & Wang, Jianda, 2025. "Path to environmental justice: How does the digital economy narrow environmental inequality?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).
    3. Jinpeng Wei & Ming Tian & Xia Wang, 2023. "Spatiotemporal Variation in Land Use and Ecosystem Services during the Urbanization of Xining City," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-19, May.
    4. Goran Krsnik & Sonia Reyes-Paecke & Keith M. Reynolds & Jordi Garcia-Gonzalo & José Ramón González Olabarria, 2023. "Assessing Relativeness in the Provision of Urban Ecosystem Services: Better Comparison Methods for Improved Well-Being," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-16, May.
    5. Aibo Jin & Gachen Zhang & Ping Ma & Xiangrong Wang, 2024. "Ecosystem Services Trade-Offs in the Chaohu Lake Basin Based on Land-Use Scenario Simulations," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-29, December.
    6. Alexander V. Rusanov, 2019. "Dacha dwellers and gardeners: garden plots and second homes in Europe and Russia," Population and Economics, ARPHA Platform, vol. 3(1), pages 107-124, April.
    7. Hui, Ling Chui & Jim, C.Y., 2022. "Urban-greenery demands are affected by perceptions of ecosystem services and disservices, and socio-demographic and environmental-cultural factors," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    8. Monika Kopecká & Daniel Szatmári & Konštantín Rosina, 2017. "Analysis of Urban Green Spaces Based on Sentinel-2A: Case Studies from Slovakia," Land, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-17, April.
    9. Veerkamp, Clara J. & Schipper, Aafke M. & Hedlund, Katarina & Lazarova, Tanya & Nordin, Amanda & Hanson, Helena I., 2021. "A review of studies assessing ecosystem services provided by urban green and blue infrastructure," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    10. Ahmet Tolunay & Çağlar Başsüllü, 2015. "Willingness to Pay for Carbon Sequestration and Co-Benefits of Forests in Turkey," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-27, March.
    11. Wang, Yong & Wei, Zikai & Luo, Siyu & Zhou, Jingxin & Zhen, Lu, 2024. "Collaboration and resource sharing in the multidepot time-dependent vehicle routing problem with time windows," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    12. Massoni, Emma Soy & Barton, David N. & Rusch, Graciela M. & Gundersen, Vegard, 2018. "Bigger, more diverse and better? Mapping structural diversity and its recreational value in urban green spaces," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 31(PC), pages 502-516.
    13. Somajita Paul & Harini Nagendra, 2017. "Factors Influencing Perceptions and Use of Urban Nature: Surveys of Park Visitors in Delhi," Land, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-23, April.
    14. Wang, Jianxiao & An, Qi & Zhao, Yue & Pan, Guangsheng & Song, Jie & Hu, Qinran & Tan, Chin-Woo, 2023. "Role of electrolytic hydrogen in smart city decarbonization in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 336(C).
    15. Gregg C. Brill & Pippin M. L. Anderson & Patrick O’Farrell, 2022. "Relational Values of Cultural Ecosystem Services in an Urban Conservation Area: The Case of Table Mountain National Park, South Africa," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-28, April.
    16. Shaoyang Ren & Yinan Li & Zhen Peng & Mingqiang Yin & Xiao Liu, 2024. "Developing an Urban Environment Examination System by Incorporating Construction, Economic, Environmental, Cultural and Development Dimensions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-27, April.
    17. Aggelos Tsaligopoulos & Stella Kyvelou & Nefta-Eleftheria Votsi & Aimilia Karapostoli & Chris Economou & Yiannis G. Matsinos, 2021. "Revisiting the Concept of Quietness in the Urban Environment—Towards Ecosystems’ Health and Human Well-Being," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-19, March.
    18. Jonas Smit Andersen & Sara Maria Lerer & Antje Backhaus & Marina Bergen Jensen & Hjalte Jomo Danielsen Sørup, 2017. "Characteristic Rain Events: A Methodology for Improving the Amenity Value of Stormwater Control Measures," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-18, October.
    19. Jeroen Degerickx & Martin Hermy & Ben Somers, 2020. "Mapping Functional Urban Green Types Using High Resolution Remote Sensing Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-35, March.
    20. Jacqueline Theis & Christopher K. Woolley & Philip J. Seddon & Danielle F. Shanahan & Claire Freeman & Maibritt Pedersen Zari & Yolanda van Heezik, 2025. "The New Zealand Biodiversity Factor—Residential (NZBF-R): A Tool to Rapidly Score the Relative Biodiversity Value of Urban Residential Developments," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-32, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:14:y:2025:i:6:p:1238-:d:1674697. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.